The Prepaid Press - February 15, 2008 - (Page 20)

PAYMENTS February 15 · 2008 - 20 Cardholder Facing Systems from page 1 administration and IP address assignment. It lowers the total cost of ownership for a multiple device environment. Which is where the marketing of the new Hypercom equipment takes up; it promises all the bells and whistles of its line of multi-lane terminals, but promises ease of integration into commercial accounting packages like Microsoft’s Retail Management Systems or Intuit’s QuickBooks. What the manufacturers are really attempting is to bring the cost and practicality of customerfacing devices to retailers of any size. And like many technology standards, adoption is filtering its way down to smaller retailers as consumers get used to them. For businesses like Ear x-Tacy, an independent record store in Louisville, Ky., there’s only one factor that comes into play – price. Owner John Timmons said his store accepts credit cards, but hasn’t made the jump to debit and customerfacing terminals. He just doesn’t see the financial benefit. “We’ve talked about it, but we’re busy trying to find ways to stay relevant,” said Timmons, whose store has been in business more than two decades. Lori Breitzke, an independent consultant in the industry, agreed that all the benefits manufacturers trot out mean nothing to local merchants unless there’s a financial benefit to the business. “Smaller merchants don’t even think about upgrading their equipment,” she said. “Some of those businesses are struggling. They know they have to take credit cards, but they’re already paying for that and they have to build it into their price.” She said that’s why debit has made some penetration into the small merchant marketplace – because it’s less expensive for a merchant to accept debit than credit cards. John Saccomanno, Director of Industry and Product Marketing for NCR, counters that business size has little to do with technology adoption. “Regardless of size, retailers tend to have the same problems with issues like margin, shrink and labor,” he said. “Any size business can understand the value proposition for new technology.” Merchants like to see the cold, hard numbers before making decisions. For instance, show a store owner how PIN debit saves a quarter on a $40 transaction, and you’ve got his attention. He’ll quickly multiply that number by his expected number of transactions. Let’s take a restaurant owner doing a few hundred of those $40 transactions per day. One study, from Verifone, showed that the savings from a 30 percent shift from credit to debit could add up to $36,000 in annual savings. That’s the kind of statistic that could get the attention of a small restaurant owner with a single cash register. Still, what most observers consider to be the future of the payments industry – technology like contactless payments and mobile – are light years from adoption in, say, a locally-owned bookstore. Tier 4 merchants, those doing less than 20,000 transactions per year, are typically the last in line to buy in for technology treats. Though NCR’s Saccomanno says that a bigger factor in technology adoption is the attitude of the business owner, whether it’s a giant chain or a single store. It’s not that manufacturers aren’t working to move smaller merchants to their technology products. Scott Goldthwait, vice president of Global Solutions for Hypercom, said one of his company’s newest products targets Tier 4 “Eventually the retailer realizes that if he doesn’t do it, he’ll lose a customer. But it takes several years for most innovations like this to filter down.” companies, service providers and entertainment venues of all types. Consider the restaurant market. For decades, crimes have occurred when customers hand over their credit cards to wait staff. Skimming, in which magnetic card data is stolen using a reader, is a major industry issue. One study showed that 70 percent of skimming crime takes place at restaurants. merchants. Hypercom’s SmartPayment EasyRetail product is designed to give smaller merchants the advantages of customer-facing terminal technology, Goldthwait said. But Hypercom just introduced the product, and it remains to be seen how many Tier 4 merchants will buy the equipment. Independent operators like Timmons, who owns the Louisville record store, simply won’t allocate resources to something they don’t see impacting their bottom line in a positive way. Breitzke said that the idea of technology innovations starting with giant retailers and filtering down to smaller merchants is nothing new. “Eventually the retailer realizes that if he doesn’t do it, he’ll lose a customer. But it takes several years for most innovations like this to filter down,” she said. She pointed out that in 1996, a smart card experiment at the Atlanta Olympics got buy-in because businesses got the hardware free as part of the promotion. Seeing the Future While multi-lane terminals are becoming more popular with retailers, emerging technology for wireless, mobile payment acceptance may be the fastest-growing segment in the payments space. Potential applications include delivery Technology’s answer to the problem? Skimming crime at restaurants could be virtually eliminated through Pay-at-the-Table applications using wireless, mobile payment terminals. Cardholders never lose sight of their card, and the technology is fast and secure. The technology is built upon wireless technology that allows data transmission over local area networks (LAN) or wide area networks (WAN). Hypercom’s Optimum 4100 opens up mobile payments in dozens of industries, from pay-attable restaurant applications to delivery services and service providers like plumbers and taxis. With these devices, not much larger than an oldfashioned cell phone, vendors at stadiums can accept plastic for concessions. Verifone and Ingenico are marketing portable, battery-powered options as well. It’s a desirable market for the device manufacturers – table-service restaurants alone are estimated to account for $190 billion in annual sales, with 370,000 operations in the U.S. Penetrating even a small portion of the market represents a boon for manufacturers. Rick Redding is a freelance writer in Louisville, KY. He writes about media and politics in his hometown at http://thevillevoice.com. He can be reached at rick@thevillevoice.com. Marc Marc March March 3-5, 2008 • The Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino • Las Vegas 8 Th Ri All Suit Hotel Ca o Las The Rio All-Suite l-Suit e Casi Casino a Monitise Americas Expands Payments Network Ten New Institutions To Provide NYCE Mobile Payments MILWAUKEE, WI (January 9, 2008) Monitise Americas announced that the NYCE Payments Network has signed agreements with ten new financial institutions to provide mobile financial services. NYCE Payments Network is a division of banking and payment technology provider, Metavante (NYSE: MV). The announcement said the latest institutions to choose mobile services from Monitise Americas are: California Business Bank, Los Angeles, Calif.; First National Bank of LaGrange, LaGrange, Ill.; Gold Canyon Bank, Gold Canyon, Ariz.; INTRUST Bank, Wichita, Kan.; New Century Bank, Chicago, Ill.; Michigan Schools and Government Credit Union, Clinton Township, Mich.; PrimeSouth Bank, Waycross, Ga.; PyraMax Bank, Greenfield, Wis.; Seaside National Bank & Trust, Orlando, Fla.; and Summit Bank, Prescott, Ariz. These institutions are accessing the Monitise Americas solution through NYCE’s Mobile Financial Services offering, according to the release. Monitise Americas said it uses existing financial services processor connections, such as the NYCE Network and prepaid platforms, to deliver mobile financial services directly to consumers’ mobile devices. The announcement said the Monitise Americas solution is compatible across multiple mobile networks, so consumers are able to use the service without switching handsets or carriers. Current services available, as listed by the company, include balance inquiries, funds transfers, mini-statements and text message alerts. “Consumers have challenged their financial institutions to provide more convenience and on-the-move access to their accounts,” said Lisa Stanton, Chief Executive Officer of Monitise Americas. “In today’s ‘on-demand’ society, banks and credit unions don’t have a lot of time to respond and our service allows them to deploy mobile banking to their market quickly, enables their customers to access their financial information from anywhere and uses a platform that they can trust. The Monitise Americas system unites relevant players in a single secure connection, using a method that’s already proven in Europe.” “The concept of ‘value’ has become a base expectation for financial institutions. Increasing that value by offering a cuttingedge service like mobile banking and payments redefines what a network can do,” said Steve Rathgaber, President and Chief Operating Officer at NYCE. “Increasing numbers of banks and credit unions are seeing how the capability to deliver mobile financial services over the ATM switch creates a scalable solution that they can capitalize on regardless of their size, charter or mobile strategy.” Monitise Americas has engineered its platform specifically for the North American mobile banking and payments market, leveraging the practices and technology developed by Monitise for the MONILINK service in the U.K. MONILINK provides mobile banking and payment services to U.K. customers of first direct, Alliance & Leicester, Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest and Ulster Bank. Monitise Americas is a joint venture between Metavante Corporation and Monitise plc (MONI.L). Source: NYCE Payments Network, LLC (www.nyce.net) Monitise Americas (www.monitise.com) THE INNOVATORS Learn from the Top Minds in Prepaid ‘08 2,400+ Prepaid Professionals Jane Thompson WAL-MART 900+ 57 sessions companies represented Harit Talwar DISCOVER FINANCIAL SVCS Laura Kelly MASTERCARD NEW OPPORTUNITIES Drive profits via new markets a http://www.thevillevoice.com http://www.prepaidcardexpo.com http://www.prepaidcardexpo.com http://www.nyce.net http://www.monitise.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Prepaid Press - February 15, 2008

The Prepaid Press - February 2008 Beachfront Property for Sale Cardholder Facing Systems Contents The Retske Report: Getting the Word Out 5 Minutes With Mark Flanagan, CEO of PrepaidWireless.com Regulatory Rundown: Mid-Winter Update 2008 Prepaid Wireless Handsets Consumer’s Union Raps Wireless Industry Prepaid Reviews Launches Canadian Website Maginpins and TúYo Mobile Form Alliance Prepaid Wireless in Brief Boost Mobile Introduces New $1/Day Chat Plan Mobile Voice to Overtake Fixed in Europe Prepaid Wireless Roundup Another Kind of Prepaid Calling Spot Rates VSNL Wins ATLANTIC-ACM Award The Legal Line Calling Cards in Brief Sapotek Partners with DigiLinea Pactolus Goes Live at Cable MSO Low-Income Market Initiatives to Drive Mobile Banking Payments in Brief Monitise Americas Expands Payments Network Charge Anywhere Mobile POS Wins Award Hypercom Introduces System for Small Merchants TIO Networks Announces TIO Prepaid MasterCard NPBCA Makes Leadership Change A Walk Down the Aisle Branding Your Retail Store Retailers Welcome Senate Approval of Stimulus Bill NRF Forecasts 3.5 Percent Growth in Retail Sales Cyphermint Teams With DHL Retail Focus in Brief Our Advertisers Contact Us

The Prepaid Press - February 15, 2008

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